Question:
Does anyone have info on venicien glass beads, sometimes called milifore
beads. I think they are made in Italy. Any info on the making process
would be helpful.
Answer:
Milifiori is Italian for "a thousand flowers." The Venetian beads you are
talking about is only one of the many styles of Venetian beads. A
beadmaker will make a cane out of glass about the size of a tennis ball,
then he will heat and stretch the entire cane until it's the thickness of
a pencil. After the cane cools, he will use glass cutters and nip the
cane into many small pieces. Then he will add these milifiori to a hot
bead and encase with clear glass.
When the cane shows something other than a flower, such as a face or a
fish, it is called a murini cane.
To find out how to make these canes, you can watch Lewis Wilson's
wonderful video on Murini-making.
I've tried making flowers, and it's exciting to make your own design -
which is more realistic than the geometric milifiori that the Italians
produce.
